If you accept credit cards, then there are critical changes coming into effect shortly with the EMV Chip Technology. This article is about how these will affect you and your clients’ currently processing with QuickBooks Merchant Services (QMS) and how to become EMV compliant. This is especially critical for those using older versions of QuickBooks Point of Sale (QB POS).
What is EMV?
EMV is the global standard for smart card payments and acceptance devices. It was named after the original developers, Europay, MasterCard and Visa (there is a bit of trivia for you!)Â EMV refers to smart or chip cards that contain an embedded chip or microprocessor, which provides stronger security features and other capabilities that are not possible with traditional magnetic stripe cards.
Why is EMV important?
EMV provides merchants with increased fraud protection from counterfeit, lost or stolen cards, because the embedded chip is more secure than the traditional magnetic stripe technology. The chip in EMV enabled cards generates a unique one-time code that cannot be replicated by counterfeit cards. EMV has already been adopted in many countries, and the United States is transitioning to EMV, with a key milestone planned for October 2015. Until then, if you run a transaction on a fraudulent card, the bank assumes the loss. Starting in October, if you swipe a fraudulent EMV/chip card with a magnetic stripe reader, you could be liable for that charge.
EMV and Intuit / QuickBooks Merchant Services
There is good news for those using QuickBooks Merchant Services: Intuit is extending the EMV liability shift by six months for its QMS customers to allow everyone more time to transition. Until March 31, 2016, if a QMS customer unknowingly accepts a counterfeit EMV card in a card-present transaction using a magnetic stripe reader, Intuit will assume the customer’s liability for the fraud.
For further EMV details around Intuit’s extended liability shift and for QuickBooks Mobile EMV Card Reader pre-orders, please contact us to speak with our EMV specialist and answer all your questions – 954.447.0250.
These are a few key questions around EMV compliance with your Intuit / QuickBooks products that we can answer:
- What versions of QB POS are EMV compliant?
- What can be done for businesses on earlier versions?
- Is there going to an EMV compatible card swipe, or just the debit pin pad?
For these and any other credit card processing questions, please contact our EMV specialist.
We know several clients that would be impacted depending on the answers above, and we are being proactive. That said, some businesses may soon be past the proactive stage and will have to become reactive. Do not let that happen to you… Contact us today!
…CHRIS F.
